The U.S. economy is facing an uncertain future due to the current pandemic and its lasting effects still to be seen. One of the key factors in the growth or decline in the economy is hiring, and a new study has found that hiring is slowing very slowly in the US – and this could actually be the boost the economy needs.
The study, conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, found that hiring in the second quarter of the year was down 8.2 percent from the same quarter a year ago. This is a drop, but it’s a much slower decline than was expected given the current climate of economic strain.
The study’s authors attribute this slowdown in the decline of hiring to continued public health interventions that have helped contain the spread of the virus. These public health measures, such as social distancing and the use of masks, have kept case numbers and deaths from increasing at the same rate as earlier in the pandemic. This has led to some sectors of the economy being able to remain open and functioning, allowing them to continue hiring.
At the same time, the study indicates that business confidence remains low due to uncertainty over the future path of the pandemic and the economy. This lack of confidence has kept businesses from taking larger hiring risks and expanding their workforce.
The good news is that the slowing declines in hiring could be just what the economy needs to get back to healthy levels of growth. With the economy slowly adjusting to the environment, businesses are more likely to take on new hires – creating jobs and providing families with much-needed income.
It’s clear that the pandemic is far from over, and it’s going to take months, if not years, for the economic system to return to pre-pandemic levels. But with careful public health measures and slow hiring declines, the effects of the pandemic can be minimized, and hopefully the economy can return to a healthier state in the near future.